BOISE, Idaho — At the end of May, Daniel Ritz again found himself in unfamiliar waters. The 33-year-old Boisean had just landed in Alaska, the latest destination in his pursuit of more than a dozen rare trout species.
Within a few days, Ritz had landed four of the six species he came to Alaska to catch, adding to the list of trout he’d already landed in the southwestern U.S. weeks earlier.
The trek is part of the Western Native Trout Challenge, a catch-and-release fishing endeavor that requires anglers to reel in various species of trout in their historic waters. Ritz created an additional challenge for himself — he’ll try to complete the undertaking in just a few months, chronicling his fishing trips on the Trout Unlimited website.
He said he hopes the project will shed light on the often dire circumstances these fish are in, something he learned only relatively recently.
“Every single day I’m looking to learn as much as I possibly can (about the fish and their habitats) and share some of the most important parts,” he said in a phone interview.
Pursuit raises anglers’ awareness for challenged native trout
Ritz learned to fly fish on Idaho’s alpine lakes just a few years ago. A Maryland native, Ritz had grown up interested in surfing, hiking and backpacking. The latter hobbies naturally led to his love of fishing, he said. In 2018, he became “infatuated” with fly fishing and soon started to learn as much as he could about it.
“I love to get really impassioned by my hobby,” said Ritz, who is the communications manager for the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited, which is based in Boise.
Ritz said he focused on learning the ropes of fly fishing, but soon realized there was more than meets the eye to the species he was catching.
“It just blew my mind,” he said of learning about historic fish habitats. “It’s a very historically complex and, I think, a really important aspect people can add to their fishing experience.”
Not long after, he stumbled across the Western Native Trout Challenge. The challenge, hosted by the Western Native Trout Initiative, has three tiers for anglers of different skill levels: Expert, Advanced and Master Casters.
The expert level requires anglers to catch and photograph six different trout species in at least four states, while the advanced challenge ups the requirement to 12 species in at least eight states. The master level — which Ritz is attempting — requires an angler to catch and photograph 18 species across all 12 states that participate in the initiative.
From Apache trout in Arizona to arctic grayling in Alaska
The Western Native Trout Initiative works with fish and wildlife agencies in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming to try to preserve and restore native trout habitat. Ritz must travel to each state to complete his challenge.
By early June, he had already landed fish in six states. He reeled in his first challenge fish, a Lahontan cutthroat, in Nevada. Next was a redband trout at home in Idaho.
Next, Ritz traveled to New Mexico, reeling in a Gila trout amid a landscape charred by repeated wildfires.
“These are the southernmost trout in North America,” Ritz said.
He partnered with Trout Unlimited, the Western Native Trout Initiative, Orvis and Montana Fly Company for the journey, which took him across the border from New Mexico into Arizona to pursue
Ritz is nearly halfway to his goal after catching Dolly Varden, arctic grayling, lake trout and coastal cutthroat trout in Alaska, and a Yellowstone cutthroat in Utah.
Soon he’ll return to the contiguous U.S. to pursue species like bull trout and a variety of cutthroat trout. Ritz is fishing only on public land and said he’s forgoing guiding services, hoping to pursue an “everyman’s journey” that other anglers can emulate.
If Ritz completes the challenge, he’ll be one of just six anglers to earn the Master Caster designation and one of only a few dozen to complete any level of the challenge. Follow his progress at the Trout Unlimited website, tu.org.
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